Contact tracing revs up in some states as Omicron reaches U.S.

Contact tracing revs up in some states as Omicron reaches U.S.

Some of the U.S. cases involve people who hadn’t traveled recently, meaning the variant was likely already circulating domestically in some parts of the country. The arrival of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in the U.S. has health officials in some communities reviving contact tracing operations in an attempt to slow and better understand its spread as scientists study how contagious it is and whether it can thwart vaccines. In New York City, officials quickly reached out to a man who tested positive for the variant and had attended…

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Six more U.S. states find Omicron cases, Delta still top U.S. coronavirus threat

Six more U.S. states find Omicron cases, Delta still top U.S. coronavirus threat

Six more U.S. states confirmed infections of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 on Friday but the Delta strain likely remains a greater threat as winter sets in and Americans gather for the holidays, experts said. New Jersey, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Pennsylvania and Utah each reported their first cases of the Omicron variant on Friday. Missouri was awaiting CDC confirmation of a case involving a St. Louis resident who had recently traveled within the United States. Scientists are still investigating the impact of the highly contagious Omicron variant, which was first…

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U.S. administers 468.5 mln doses of COVID-19 vaccines- CDC

U.S. administers 468.5 mln doses of COVID-19 vaccines- CDC

The United States had administered 468,516,782 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Saturday morning and distributed 581,107,805 doses, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Those figures are up from the 466,348,132 vaccine doses the CDC said had gone into arms by Dec. 3 out of 580,893,145 doses delivered. The agency said 235,297,964 people had received at least one dose, while 198,592,167 people had been fully vaccinated as of 6:00 a.m. ET on Saturday. The CDC tally includes two-dose vaccines from Moderna (MRNA.O) and Pfizer/BioNTech…

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Goldman Sachs cuts U.S. GDP growth forecast for 2022 over Omicron fears

Goldman Sachs cuts U.S. GDP growth forecast for 2022 over Omicron fears

Goldman Sachs on Saturday cut its outlook for U.S. economic growth to 3.8% for 2022, citing risks and uncertainty around the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. Goldman economist Joseph Briggs said in a note that the Omicron variant could slow economic reopening, but the firm expects “only a modest drag” on service spending. The firm now sees 2022 gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 3.8%, down from 4.2% previously on a full year basis, and Q4/Q4 growth of 2.9%, down from 3.3% before, Briggs said. “While many…

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IMF’s Kristalina Georgieva: Omicron variant likely to usher growth downgrades

IMF’s Kristalina Georgieva: Omicron variant likely to usher growth downgrades

Global economic growth projections from the International Monetary Fund will likely be downgraded due to the emergence of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said on Friday. “A new variant that may spread very rapidly can dent confidence, and in that sense, we are likely to see some downgrades of our October projections for global growth,” Georgieva said during the Reuters Next conference. The IMF said in October it expected the global economy to grow 5.9% this year and 4.9% next year, pointing then to…

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Donald Trump’s social media venture says it has raised $1 billion

Donald Trump’s social media venture says it has raised $1 billion

Donald Trump’s new social media venture said on Saturday it had entered into agreements to raise about $1 billion from a group of unidentified investors as it prepares to float in the U.S. stock market. The capital raise, details of which were first reported by Reuters on Wednesday, underscored the former U.S. president’s ability to attract strong financial backing thanks to his personal and political brand. He is working to launch a social media app called TRUTH Social that is at least several weeks away. read more Digital World Acquisition…

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Manslaughter charges against Michigan shooter’s parents break new legal ground

Manslaughter charges against Michigan shooter’s parents break new legal ground

There is little precedent for the criminal charges against the parents of Ethan Crumbley, the Michigan teenager who fatally shot four of his high school classmates with a handgun on Tuesday, but prosecutors may have a strong case, legal experts said. Detroit police said early on Saturday that the parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, had been taken into custody. Michigan prosecutors on Friday charged the couple with involuntary manslaughter for buying their son the weapon as a Christmas gift and ignoring warning signs as late as the day of the…

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Will Make Any Russian Invasion Of Ukraine “Very, Very Difficult”: Says Biden

Will Make Any Russian Invasion Of Ukraine “Very, Very Difficult”: Says Biden

Washington: US President Joe Biden said Friday he would make it “very, very difficult” for Russia to launch any invasion of Ukraine, which warned that a large-scale attack may be planned for next month. Washington and Kiev say Moscow has massed troops near Ukraine’s borders and accuse Russia of planning an invasion. Biden and President Vladimir Putin are due to hold a video call shortly to discuss the rising tensions, both sides confirmed Friday. Biden told reporters in Washington he was putting together “the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to…

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Biden & Putin to hold talks amid Ukraine invasion fears

Biden & Putin to hold talks amid Ukraine invasion fears

US President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin will speak via video call on Tuesday, the White House says, amid mounting tensions over Ukraine. It comes after Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US had evidence that Russia had made plans for a “large scale” attack on Ukraine. But he added it was unclear if Mr Putin had made a final decision to invade. Russia has denied any such intention, and accused Ukraine of executing its own troop build-up. In a statement released on Saturday evening, White House Press…

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US, EU, UK and Canada announce new sanctions on Belarus

US, EU, UK and Canada announce new sanctions on Belarus

The United States, United Kingdom, European Union and Canada have imposed sanctions on Belarus, accusing the government of President Alexander Lukashenko of human rights violations and “orchestrating” irregular migration at the EU’s border. The two North American countries, Britain and the European bloc announced the sanctions in a joint statement on Thursday, saying they were targeting “certain individuals and entities”. “We remain committed to supporting the democratic aspirations of the people of Belarus and stand together to impose costs on the regime – and those who support it – for…

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